 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Brian Peterson
Date: 2006-05-27 23:30
Just got five new barrels to try out on my R 13 A--2 66mm Fobes, 2 67 mm Moennigs and a Muncy 66mm.
All I can say is WOW!! What a dramatic difference--in tone quality, note transitions, especially between registers, ease of dynamic changes, and on and on and on. Of course I don't have access to a tuner today, so I can't know for sure yet. (Will have one in the the next couple of days.) For all the hype, I have to say that right now I'm a lot more impressed with the Fobes and Muncy product than with Moennig.
Anyone else out there have an opinion on the various options out there? I'd be interested to hear.
Thanks.
Brian Peterson
Post Edited (2006-05-27 23:59)
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Author: bob49t
Date: 2006-05-28 11:06
My big bore Eaton barrels sound great on my desk partner's small bore Buffet!!?? improves throat tones and tuning no end. No way she's parting with her chosen barrel of mine it seems !
Bob T
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Author: Bob Phillips
Date: 2006-05-28 15:56
My barrel experiments have produce no changes in the tone, intonation or responsiveness of my Buffet. I don't get it.
Bob Phillips
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2006-05-28 16:02
Bob Phillips wrote:
> My barrel experiments have produce no changes in the tone,
> intonation or responsiveness of my Buffet. I don't get it.
Why not? it's why everyone says "in my experience" or "in my opinion" or "your mileage may vary".
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Author: Brenda Siewert
Date: 2006-05-28 17:06
As Mark says, everyone has a different experience with barrel experimentation. I am using a Backun 65mm and a Segal 66mm right now on my Opus II. In the past I've used Moennigs and Chadash barrels and found all to be helpful over most stock barrels. There are many topics in the bboard files about these various barrels. A good one will help with intonation, over the break and tone.
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Author: Carol Dutcher
Date: 2006-05-28 18:14
I'm pretty naive, guess I didn't think the barrel would make ANY difference, I'm still using the one with the came with the R13, but now I'm getting interested enough to try out some different ones. Best Music, here we come! Thanks for the info!
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Author: Bob Phillips
Date: 2006-05-28 20:24
Mark,
One of us is guilty of bad communication regarding my experimentation with tuning barrels, so I'll attempt to clarify.
I have a stuffy Buffet --a full Boehm variant of a 1961-vintage R13. I've had a lot of expert work done to make it more user friendly. It gets in the way of my expression. I've had a great re-build done, had tone-holes moved.
As part of the process, I've tested a couple of after-market tuning barrels. My tests involved playing the barrels back to back under a couple different mouthpieces. I found no qualitative difference in any combination of this clarinet, Mitchell Lurie and Vandoren mouthpieces, stock and aftermarket barrels. No improvement in my (in)ability to play smoothly in the altissimo, no responsivness difference --nothing I could notice.
I also tested the mouthpiece and barrel combinations for intonation by playing them against a tuner while making jumps from a reference tone to every note and alternate fingering that I normally use --over the entire range of my horn.
These QUANTITATIVE results show no measurable difference in intonation between the barrels and the mouthpieces.
So, that's where I'm coming from.
You ask "why not?
I really do not know why I have not found any measureable or noticable improvement in my set up that can be ascribed to my tuning barrel. If pressed, I can summon some hypotheses:
1.) My production barrel is as good as the few aftermarket barrels I've tried.
2.) There might be a magic tuning barrel out there someplace that I haven't found.
3.) Tuning barrels don't make any difference anyhow (within reason, of course). This hypothesis, obviously, conflicts with the lore recited here and in other clarinet forums. It also verges on putting the lie to the conrtibution of bassoon bocals, saxophone necks. I am not ready to accept this hypthesis, but note that I've no personal experience that denies it --and some practical results that turn my eyes toward other ways to improve my setup.
So, my experience conflicts with other reports. As a result, my GAS is currently focused on discovering that perfect mouthpiece.
Carol Dutcher wrote:
> I'm pretty naive, guess I didn't think the barrel would make
> ANY difference, I'm still using the one with the came with the
> R13, but now I'm getting interested enough to try out some
> different ones. Best Music, here we come! Thanks for the
> info!
Bob Phillips
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2006-05-28 21:07
Bob Phillips wrote:
> As part of the process, I've tested a couple of after-market
> tuning barrels.
What is a "tuning barrel"? If it is an adjustable barrel, it is of dubius quality. If it is of a different length than your current barrel, then the "tuning" should have varied.
> I also tested the mouthpiece and barrel combinations for
> intonation by playing them against a tuner while making jumps
> from a reference tone to every note and alternate fingering
> that I normally use --over the entire range of my horn.
If you're looking at the meter than all bets are off. A 1 mm change in length would cause some change in tuning; you're adjusting.
> These QUANTITATIVE results show no measurable difference in
> intonation between the barrels and the mouthpieces.
They're not actually quantitative yet ...
A couple of barrels does not make a result than can be extrapolated in any axis. 2 points just make a straight line ...
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